RALEIGH \u2014 It\u2019s another big night for the reigning Stanley Cup champions.<\/p>\n
The Carolina Hurricanes welcome the NHL\u2019s all-time leading goal scorer to Lenovo Center on Friday night as the team debuts its new television network with a game on WRAL (7 p.m., 99.9 FM).<\/p>\n
Friday’s game will be See the full schedule of Canes games you can watch from the comfort of home.<\/a><\/p>\n Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals open their season in Raleigh against the Hurricanes, who hung their championship banner before their opener Tuesday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ovechkin has 929 career regular-season goals, the most in league history. At 41, he\u2019s back for his 22nd season with Washington. He scored 32 goals in 82 games last year.<\/p>\n \u201cYou always talk about players: What do you do?\u201d Carolina coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour said. \u201cThat guy scores. It might not be 50 [goals]. It might. His drop off might be 30 or 35. He\u2019s the best goal scorer of all time for a reason and he might be still that at 50 [years old]. Being able to score goals, I think, that\u2019s something he certainly doesn\u2019t lose a knack.\u201d<\/p>\n The Hurricanes earned a point in Tuesday\u2019s 1-0 overtime loss to Florida. But the team wasn\u2019t anywhere near its best on a celebratory night that started with a Stanley Cup victory lap and the banner ceremony.<\/p>\n \u201cA little bit more emotional than probably regular games and played one of the better teams in the league,\u201d forward Sebastian Aho said. \u201cI love it. It was a hard-fought game. We\u2019re definitely right back at it.\u201d<\/p>\n Washington is expected to be the Hurricanes\u2019 top challenger in the NHL\u2019s Metropolitan Division. The Capitals added several key pieces in the offseason, forwards Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou and Boone Jenner and defenseman Vincent Desharnais. Tuch signed an eight-year, $84-million contract with Washington, which has long been known for its size and physicality.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bigger talking point with them is they\u2019ve added some real talent there,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said. \u201cThat\u2019s pretty obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n Friday\u2019s game will be the first of 10 home games<\/a> broadcast this season over-the-air on WRAL or FOX 50 in the Triangle area. It will also be the first on the Hurricanes Hockey Network<\/a>, which will produce the games with help from the NHL. The network is available on Prime Video, Fubo, Spectrum and other distributors. Play-by-play announcer Mike Maniscalco and analyst Tripp Tracy are on the call.<\/p>\n
\nthe first of be\u00a0the
\nfirst of 10 home games<\/a>\u00a0broadcasted live on WRAL and FOX 50.\u00a0<\/p>\n